"I'm not getting paid for this, but I love Bethel Seminary. Bethel is the best training ground for men and women ever."

Daisy Johnson

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

n 1983, 27-year-old Daisy Johnson was stationed at a Naval base in Hawaii. One night some of her friends invited her to a Jimmy Swaggart crusade. "I thought I was going to a party!" she remembers. "I'd never seen a Bible before, and didn't know who Jesus was." But that night Daisy heard the gospel, and it launched her into a lifetime of service for Christ…

You wouldn't expect someone with no interest in Christian ministry, no desire to attend seminary, and no inclination to live in Minnesota, to be studying for a master of divinity at Bethel Seminary in St. Paul. But with Daisy Johnson you learn to expect the unexpected. Chalking it up to another one of God's miracles, Daisy is not shy about acknowledging that she had little to do with landing at Bethel. But then Daisy is not shy about much of anything.

I met Daisy in her seminary apartment on a rainy afternoon where she was bursting with the news of her experience at "bluer," a Generation X service at The Vineyard Church. One of her hobbies, she explained, is visiting churches to see how they work. And this service had Daisy, a baby boomer, ready to join a rock band.

Finding a freshly dyed blonde African-American ("I've always wanted to be a blonde") and 45-year-old Generation Xer at Bethel Seminary is, I suppose, a testimony to God's penchant for the unlikely. Or as Daisy puts it: "God uses people who don't think they can do it."

Heeding God's call

Daisy was born in Brooklyn, New York, and first attended Brooklyn College in theatre and dance. She later received her B.A. cum laude in media arts from Benedict College in Columbia, South Carolina. Then she began thinking about graduate school. "I had no interest whatsoever in ministry," she said.
"My idea of ministry was to get rich so I could give to the poor."

But people at church began to tell her, "Ministry is your calling." The subject of seminary began to surface. "Seminary? What's that?" she asked. "I was thinking of a monastery and I thought Nooo, I have hormones."

When the call to ministry became irresistible, Daisy sent applications to numerous schools. Bethel was the first to accept her. Once again, she balked. She didn't want to go to Minnesota, that "cold, snowy fortress inhabited by masses of equally cold, white Lutherans." She prayed to "suffer in the sun," but everything seemed to point to St. Paul. So Daisy followed God's leading. "I came here crying, screaming, saying, 'God, you made a big mistake.'"

Sojourning at Bethel

But Daisy has flourished during her five years at Bethel Seminary. She received her preaching license from the Full Gospel Baptist Church in St. Paul and was ordained by the Baptist General Conference. The former theater major has discovered a flare for preaching--she illustrates her sermons with anecdotes from movies--and has participated in various church internships. As she looks beyond the completion of her master's degree at Bethel, Daisy says she is deeply thankful for her
professors, the facet of Bethel she will miss the most.

"They do more than teach; they sincerely have faith--they love God," Daisy says. "And they love their students. It doesn't matter what color I am, or gender, or anything else." Among her favorites are Donald Verseput, associate professor of New Testament, in whose classes "you don't need caffeine to stay awake!" Herbert Klem, professor of missions, "a wonderful, compassionate man," and Ralph Hammond, associate professor of pastoral care and director of multicultural affairs--"He's the one who encouraged me, when I got here, to go forward." But even these are only representatives of the many excellent professors she says she has encountered at Bethel.

"I'm not getting paid for this," Daisy says, "but I love Bethel Seminary. Bethel is the best training ground for men and women ever."

Moving on

What has Bethel trained her for? Like any recent graduate, Daisy sees the future looming before her with a mixture of fear and excitement. But God's clear direction toward a life of ministry gives her courage. Daisy says with assurance, "God did not bring me here to be set aside."

Indeed, Daisy has been called to the pastorship of Messiah's East Gate Church in St. Paul. The small, predominantly white Lutheran congregation fell in love with her animated but concise preaching, her easygoing personality, and her deep love for God and for people. "I am at once exhilarated and in awe," she says. "God has given me a huge responsibility, and I want to make sure I step out of the way so that God is the focus."

Reflecting on the route

Sometimes it is strange to look back on one's life and see how God has pushed or pulled it in certain directions. Growing up in a rat- and roach-infested ghetto, Daisy would never have guessed that she would one day emerge from seminary to become the minister of a white, middle class Lutheran church.

"God has a wonderful sense of humor," Daisy says. "I know I am right where He wants me to be. I never would have planned this! But we must never forget where we came from--or what God brought us out of." True, Daisy will miss Bethel Seminary, but she is excited to be following the leading of God, wherever He may take her, whatever He may have for her to do.

Even in a snowy fortress inhabited by white Lutherans.

Christy Swisher of New Hope, Minnesota, graduated from Bethel College in 2001 with majors in writing and art. She plans to serve in an overseas mission and eventually to be a potter.